Review

I thought the itinerary gave a good overview of a large area of Japan. While there were a few places I would have liked to have seen, I realize that there is no way to fit it all in during the allotted time.

Every place (except the monastery) were very clean and the staff friendly, though no place was outstanding. The crowds at breakfast in the large hotel were less than ideal. The monastery was very uncomfortable, due to the beds, pillows and lack of a private bath. Our room was downright DUSTY on the shelves, and, though large, had no place to sit except the floor, and only difficult spots to charge electronics. The inn on Miyajima was very uncomfortable (the beds), but clean, and the food as well as the pleasant staff made up for it!

Food at Miyajima inn was OUTSTANDING! Several other meals (especially in Kyoto) were excellent as well.

There were big differences among all of the guides. Charlie, in Tokyo, and Ken, in Kyoto, stood out as exceptional. Masa was really bad. Not only did he almost cause us to miss our train—he should have nixed going all the way to the top of the castle. It was too much for several members of our group and we all found the gardens far more interesting and different from what we had seen. Unfortunately, the time at the castle gave us only a few minutes at the gardens. He didn’t seem at all interested in any of us and didn’t understand our questions, either. I think having just 2-3 guides for the trip would have been better. Changing guides every few days was a little difficult. Also, some of the guides were VERY hard to follow! They walked fast and didn’t stop often enough to look around to see if we were all there.

Once I got used to it all being online I found it convenient and it covered things well.

I felt the entire trip was very well planned and organized!

It was efficient and interesting but a little exhausting.